Gyan Vs Knowledge

"There is a huge difference between knowledge and gyan. Let me give an example. When I was appearing for my class 10 exams, I found that as it is I am bad in maths apart from that I was weak in Geography as well and in our school whoever used to fail in two subjects used to fail in that class. So I still remember that I memorised the whole book, chapter-wise and in the exam for each question I wrote the entire chapter. So ultimately the examiner must have thought that I have written so much (even though irrelevant) that he gave me passing marks- exactly 33 %.

So, you may know entire chapters on Yoga but the gyan will still not be there.

When you do yog or dhyan, gyan comes to you constantly. As you progress Gyan comes to you step by step. When you receive gyan you take one step, then you receive more gyan and move to the next step and so on and so forth. This progress is not dependent on time. Gyan will come to you only when you are connected to your Guru; without this connection there can be no gyan. It is the similar to the example I gave earlier- you will know the entire chapters on yoga but you wont know the answer to question, as there will be no gyan. You may know everything but still you wont have the gyan. (Gyan nahi hai par maloom sab kuch hai).So when you are on the path of yog and if your are doing it the right way, as time passes and as you progress there is an increase in gyan (gyan vriddhi) and when this happens many things start merging.

When creation began, it was marked as the Satyug. In Satyug, Yoga primarily was gyan (not knowledge). While knowledge is limited to the physical brain and the 5 senses, gyan is embedded in the deepest core of the physical and etheric self. To prove this fact, I would like to quote an interesting case study. Mr. William Sheridan from New York went for a heart transplant. Before the surgery he was an ordinary office-goer, but post the surgery he suddenly started to sketch and paint. He himself was taken by surprise and when research was done, it was found that the heart that was given to him belonged to an artist. This proves that consciousness is present in each and every cell of the body and in all layers of cell. Cell is not a modern-day concept. Rishi Atreya gave the concept of anu and paramanu many millennia ago in the Sankhya philosophy.

We believe in the concept of gyanand not knowledge. Like I said, knowledge is of the brain and the five senses. Gyan, on the other hand, is the core of what you actually are, what you are living through and what you experience. The experience that you live is what is gyan. Let me distinguish the two with the help of an example. We all know that soul is immortal, and yet the biggest fear mentioned in the Patanjali Yogsutras is the fear of death - Abhnivesh. This is because you have not yet had the gyan of soul. The fear of death is embedded in each and every cell of your body due to your past life impressions and thus is very difficult rid yourself of it.

Here at Dhyan Ashram we differentiate between knowledge and gyan. Knowledge is what your mind understands, you may chose to follow it or not, but gyan is what you have experienced personally. (For example If you have experienced pain then you will never give pain to others.) We believe in imparting gyan not knowledge. And to get gyan there is only one way - service and charity - no other technique or method."-Yogi  Ashwini